Alpine School Life

School for Student Leadership

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Unlike the average student leader experience we were fortunate enough to be able to be student leader’s whilst in Pak Lap Wan. Today would be our second day here and it is the main day for activities. Both of us are in separate groups doing different things throughout the day. Core group 1 had abseiling on square rock which is basically a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean which is unbelievable, and then later in the afternoon we went hiking. The experience of abseiling was very interesting because for most of the group it was a first to be lowered down the cliff side having your life supported only by a rope controlled by the instructor and looking down at you as you slowly descend. The hiking was also very interesting because around every 300-400 meters the hiking guide would stop us along the path/road and tell us about the current environment and why certain trees were placed there and where they came from. This was a very easy way to gather information on the area that surrounded Pak Lap. We all became a little closer because of the involvement shown by everyone during the activities.

Core group 2 spent the day kayaking in the bay, working on their teamwork skills and raft building which had mixed reactions from each team participating. We started off by getting taught the basic safety rules and techniques for kayaking on choppy water rather than just still water like on the lake at Utahloy. We then practised capsizing and also turning against the waves, put on our PFD’s and spray skirt and headed off. I can personally say that it wasn’t the most enjoyable experience since I got pretty sea-sick but to be honest apart from the being sick, it was pretty amazing and the whole group loved it! Most of us were pretty exhausted when we got back to shore so hearing that lunch was on the way was even more exciting! After lunch we got back into our swimming tops and headed back to the beach to start raft building. We were split up into three random groups, and were given the supplies we were allowed to use and a time limit of 45 minutes then began building. I was in group 2 and I think we did a stella job. Well not really, by the end of the 45 minutes our raft wasn’t actually water safe so we weren’t allowed to race with the other two teams which was pretty sad so we decided to be cheerleaders for the other teams. They set off and both failed so the teachers decided to give us another 15 minutes to fix all of our rafts, Mr Shem and Anthony (the instructor) gave us a tiny bit of help (just a little bit) and then we were on a roll! The end result was group 2 being the victors, so you could say that the underdogs came back pretty well!

Today really enhanced our teamwork skills and pushed many of us out of our comfort zones which created new memories which we will all remember for a very long time. As leaders we both learnt how important support can be to team mates who are struggling when in a new and foreign environment and situation.

School For Student Leadership

School for Student Leadership is a Victorian Department of Education and Training (DET) initiative offering a unique residential education experience for year nine students. The curriculum focuses on personal development and team learning projects sourced from students' home regions. There are three campuses in iconic locations across Victoria. TheAlpine School Campus is located at Dinner Plain in the Victorian Alps. Snowy River Campus is near the mouth of the Snowy River at Marlo in east Gippsland. The third site is adjacent to Mount Noorat near Camperdown in Victoria’s Western District, and is called Gnurad-Gundidj. After consultation with the local aboriginal community, this name represents both the indigenous name of the local area and an interpretation of the statement "belonging to this place".
--Our school community acknowledges the Gunaikurnai, Bidawel and Gundijmara people as the traditional custodians of the land upon which our school campuses are built. We pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their Elders past and present, and especially whose children attend our school.